I’ve been a GNU/Linux user for about a decade now. I started seriously using it back in the wild days of Red Hat 5.2, although I did have that “experiment” with that stack of Slackware floppies, but I won’t really count that. Back then, GNU/Linux absolutely deserved a lot of the criticisms it received: it was hard to use, it was a pain to configure, and interoperability with more mainstream protocols and file formats was a crap shoot at best. In the years since, I’ve rubbed shoulders with Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, and Jon ‘maddog’ Hall. I’ve read “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”. I’ve written numerous technical how-tos, and presented at my local LUG.

There was a time when “selling” new users on GNU/Linux was a somewhat arduous task. It required a substantial commitment of time and energy. Now, thanks largely to Ubuntu, it’s dead simple to get someone to try GNU/Linux, and it’s a non-destructive process, to boot! The larger Free Software ecosystem has matured sufficiently that there’s a wealth of terrific, stable, useful software available to satisfy most users’ needs.

And yet, getting new users to appreciate GNU/Linux and Free Software remains something of a challenge. There’s a bit of a culture shift, which occurs for everyone at a different pace, but there’s more to it than that. There’s a lot to learn about GNU/Linux, and it’s been my experience that the sheer volume of information is overwhelming for people. I’ve not had much success on my own breaking it down into bite-sized chunks. Tech books are usually too technical, and the rate of change within the software world renders most printed books obsolete almost before they’re printed.

Enter Hackett and Bankwell, a new comic book geared at introducing GNU/Linux — specifically Ubuntu GNU/Linux — to new users. At about 30 pages long, the first issue is an easy read, and doesn’t get too bogged down by technical details, political ruminations, or an over-abundance of geekiness. A couple panels are dense with historical information, but it doesn’t detract from the pace of the simple story too much.

And simple the story is. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with GNU/Linux is likely to be bored, but for a younger reader — or someone completely unfamiliar with GNU/Linux — the story makes for a reasonable introduction, even if it’s completely unrealistic.

My complaint against the story is that it actually demonstrates too accurately one of the more damaging aspects of GNU/Linux advocacy: that it’s the right tool for every job without question or evaluation. The character of Woody, the lovable penguin, sweeps into his new company and immediately replaces instances of “MasterSoft” with Ubuntu. I understand this is just a comic book story designed to introduce the fundamentals of Ubuntu and GNU/Linux, but some display of sensible needs assessment and planned transition from prorprietary to Free Software would have made me more comfortable.

In my experience, when you yank someone’s Windows workstation away from them and replace it with Linux, there are all sorts of little problems. These little problems might be easily dismissed by a Linux enthusiast, but the reality is that the user ought to be comfortable using the tool you’ve provided them, and if they’re not comfortable they won’t like it. A harsh, arbitrary transition does more to damage the experience of using Linux — and by association Free Software — than does a gradual, planned, and supported transition.

{ad}Issue One of “Hackett and Bankwell” includes a pretty comprehensive list of online resources, which a studious reader can use to follow topics of particular interest to them. If such a list can be maintained for each subsequent issue, it could be a great springboard for new users.

I have high hopes for the next issue of Hackett and Bankwell, which jumps into the command line. Keep an eye on the blog to see what’s happening.

Reader Comments

Good idea (worked for Chrome) but from the looks of it, very lame implementation. “Oh Brother.”

http://none Rich Lisanti

When I retired, which was about a year ago, I switched to
Ubuntu (then to KUbuntu). I have never looked back. However, the
author is right, you can’t trivialize even minor differences to a Linux newbie.
Take my wife for instance, she uses our XP laptop for email and web stuff but
will not use our Ubuntu machine except to play games (because there are so many
more of them). Back when I was a manager I had trouble convincing
people to upgrade their windows machines from one version to the next.
It’s called comfort zone and people don’t want to have their cheese moved.
Actually the emphasis should be on open platforms and information exchange,
which Ubuntu does a wonderful job with. I am amazed every day with the
new tools, toys, and software that Ubuntu supports. As a retired guy it
means a lot that I don’t have to pay exorbitant fees for everyday
software. Thank you for the article and thank you for Ubuntu.